The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 16, 1998 Page: 12 of 24
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12
THE RICE THRESHER ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT FRIDAY, OCTOBER
16, 1998
the THRESHER'S
recommendations
for events around
houston through
OCT 29, 1998.
EDITORS'
picks
Saturday
BOCKTOBERFEST
Beer and music on a sunny
afternoon in Texas. What
could be better? Once again
the fabulous people of
Shiner are putting together a
promising day of
live entertainment and
magical brews. This year's
festival features the musical
stylings of Robert Earl Keen,
Reverend Horton Heat and
Marcia Ball.
Spoetzi Brewery. General
admission $20. For more info,
call (800) 5-SHINER.
Saturday
t
t
FROZEN
Suicide, hypothermia and
performance art make for an
enjoyable night of cinema in
this new film by an
anonymous Mandarin
filmmaker. Check out this
rare glimpse into the
avant-garde film world in
modern Beijing.
Rice Media Center.
9:30 p.mQFor more info,
call (713) 527-4853.
monday
YKOOM [ROOM
§ PAM HOUSTON
The rough and tough
fiction author offers a
live reading from her
latest work, Waltzing the
Cat. Best known for her
strong and-adventurous
female characters,
Houston's newest
release promises
to take on the topic of love
in her usual gritty,
humorous style.
Brazos Bookstore. 2421
Bissonnet. 7 p.m. For
more info, call
(713) 523-0701.
Vogel's new play tests limits of audience
Amanda Goad
FOR THE THRESHER
Fine productions from the Alley
Theater are no surprise to anyone
familiar with the Houston arts scene.
The Alley's latest excellent produc-
tion, however, may surprise even
theater regulars. How I Learned to
Drive spends two hours testing the
limits of moralityftnd leaves itsaudi-
ence with plenty of food for thought.
10
'how i learned t<5
drive'
Alley Theater
Rating: *** 1/2 (out of five)
Through Oct. 25
Tickets $36-$40. Call (713) 228-
8421 for more information.
The play's opening scene takes
place in suburban Maryland during
the summer of 1969. Its central char-
acter, 17-year-old Li'l Bit (Sherri
Parker Lee), is receiving a driving
lesson from her uncle Peck (James
Black). But within moments he is
lifting her blouse, and we realize
that Li'l Bit's close relationship with
her uncle is, in fact, a sexual one, but
Peck is no dirty old man. Both char-
acters are likable, and the chemis-
try between them is excellent. The
tension between public acceptance
of their relationship and reprehen-
sion of pedophilic incest drives the
Play-
Subsequent scenes consist of
assorted flashbacks from Li'l Bit's
life. As a child, she tries to learn the
ways of the world from her mother,
aunt and grandmother, or runs to
Peck as her confidant in times of
adolescent turmoil. In other scenes
she is older, reflecting on the emo-
tional consequences of her liaisons
with Peek. Lee performed convinc-
ingly throughout. She seemed
enough like a young and helpless
oprah ... UMA ... oprah
BRUCE BENNETT/ALLEY THEATER
Peck (James Black) gives his niece, Li'l Bit (Sherri Parker Lee), a driving lesson in Paula Voegl's How I Learned to Drive.
naif to win our sympathies, but
enough like a mature and self-aware
woman to make the romance and
physical affection Li'l Bit shares with
Peck appear almost acceptable.
Meanwhile, Black gave a stun-
ning performance as Peck, a man
troubled by alcoholism and self-
doubt who molests his niece but
also listens to her as no one else in
her fractured family does. Black
managed to exude Southern charm
even while challenging moral bound-
aries and stood out as the star of this
show. Black and Lee retain the same
Newton steals show in
new 'Beloved' adaptation
Sonja Danburg
FOR THE THRESHER
If you haven't read Toni
Morrijjon's novel Beloved yet, wait.
You might ruin your enjoyment of
the surprisingly well-crafted film ad-
aptation. And it's not just the depth
of the screenplay that will surprise
you. Beloved chucks popping eye-
balls, crashing crockery and polter-
geist-like hauntings the viewer's way
in the first five minutes alone.
'beloved'
Rating: -k-k-k 1/2
(out of five)
Currently in theaters.
But that's only the beginning.
There are still demonic voices,
blood-drenched babies and unex-
pected projectile vomiting to deal
with.
And yet none of the omnipresent
horroMn Beloved feels false, forced
or even gratuitous — a strength
which on its own should be reason
enough to see a movie
nowadays.
Beloved pperd^gs on
the 'assumption that
the audience can sus-
pend its disbelief for
three hours to step into
the world of Sethe
(Oprah Winfrey), a
runaway slave living in
post-Civil War Ohio*-
The suspension of dis-
belief part doesn't stem
simple costumes throughout the
show, emphasizing the continuity of
familial bond that underlies their
ever-changing erotic relationship.
Three other actors (Kevin
Waldron, Elizabeth Heflin and Krista
Forster) serve as a Greek chorus,
announcing scene themes with
clever epigrams based on driver's
education filmstrips. The chorus
members also play all the other parts,
including Li'l Bit's high school class-
mates and family members. All three
acted their roles well, and the tech-
nique effectively creates a tightly
knit, intensely dramatic experience.
Nonetheless, the chorus' multiple
roles require some suspension of
disbelief, particularly when Waldron
plays Li'l Bit's grandfather but seems
younger than she is.
The Alley performs How I
Learned to Drive on its tiny Neuhaus
Arena Stage. This small th^ater-in-
the-round venue further enhances
the intimate nature of the play, but a
few staging problems are distract-
ing. From our seats at the edge of
the south seating area, we could see
See LESSONS, Page 17
from trying to convince yourself that
Oprah Winfrey is not Oprah. She
actually does an excellent job of slid-
ing herself into the heart and mind
of a tormented, 19th-century ex-
slave.
Instad, the stumbling block for
these of you grounded in logic and
reality lies in accepting the .fact tha
Sethe actually physically hauntedby
her past.
And this is no kindly haunting —
I'm talking flying tables and gore-
filled hallucinations here. In its
wrath, the spirit manages to run off
from Sethe's home everyone except
Sethe and her daughter Denver
(Kimberly Elise).
'beloved' chucks
popping eyeballs,
crashing crockery
and poltergeist-
like hauntings the
viewer's way in .the
first five minutes
alone.
But things really get rolling when
Paul D (Danny Glover) hits the
scene. Paul D is also a former slave
who ran away from the same planta-
tion as Sethe,%nd this collision with
her past is the force which drives
the action for most of the film. It's
also the catalyst for some down and.
dirty sex scenes.
But this is only the basic plot of
See OPRAH, Page 15
go go GADGET
Love defies cultural
boundaries in new film
Jett McAlister
THRESHER EDITORIAL STAFF
One of the wonderful things about foreign cinema is that it works
almost always resist Hollywood formula. While this also applies to
American independent film, movies from this side of the Atlantic still
have to contend with Hollywood, and to a degree this can force indie
flicks into their own fortnula. And while not all European film is strikingly
clifferent from Hollywood's, much of it is in aitradition totally apart from
that of American cindrYia. "
'gadjo dilo'
Rating: 1/2
(out of five)
In French and Rom with
English subtitles.
Currently in theaters.
Gadjo Dilo is an example of
this, a totally European movie
with no American approxima-
tion. A wonderful mixture of
inventive story, compelling
writing and solid acting makes
Gadjo Dilo an interesting film.
For anyone who values films
that "truly get under the skin of
a culture, Gadjo Dilo will be a
treat.
Gadjo Dilo tells the story of a young Parisian, Stephane (Romain
Duris), who leaves France for Romania after his father's death to search
for a Gypsy singer whom his father adored. He brings along a tape with
her name, Nora Luca, scratched in it. The only thing he has to identify
the singer, it immediately imparts an air of mystery over the film.
After journeying across the snowy Romanian landscape, Stephane
happens upon a small Gypsy community, where he immediately bonds
with an old musician, Izidor (Isidor Serban), over a bottle of cheap
vifclka. Although there is a language barrier between them (Stephane
speaks only French and Izidor only Rom), liquor and music help them
communicate. Izidor claims to know Nora Luca and offers to help
St6phane find her.
The next morning, Stephane is confronted by the villagers, who
considers him a gadjo dilo, or "crazy outsider." They treat him with the
suspicion due a stranger to a group that is itself outside mainstream
society, a group that must be cautious and wary of strangers to protect
itself politically and economically. Ironically, the townspeople denounce
him for the same things that they themselves are often stereotypically
and falsely accused of: "Look, it's a thief!" they'yell. "It's a bandit, he's
going to steal our women." Of gourse, the language barrier also exists
between Stephane and the villagers. The only Gypsy who speaks French
(or, as the Gypsies call it, Belgian) is Sabina (Rona Hartnfc), a
tfSee GYPSIES, Page'17
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Stoler, Brian. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 86, No. 7, Ed. 1 Friday, October 16, 1998, newspaper, October 16, 1998; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth246630/m1/12/: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.